Move Lacks Organization

November 10, 1993|By ALAN GREENBERG; Courant Sports Columnist

Even when the Red Sox do the right thing, they handle it in the wrong way. In demoting Lou Gorman by kicking him upstairs and out of harm's way, they took action that was long overdue. Then they left Gorman himself to break the news to the media, to call the Red Sox beat writers one by one, to face the music they themselves had orchestrated. Gorman had lost face, but the Red Sox left him to try to put a pretty face on their decision. Even Tammy Faye Bakker doesn't own that much makeup.

It's not too different from what the Whalers did to Emile Francis, but at least the Whalers didn't ask Francis to be the megaphone broadcasting his new irrelevance within the organization. For all Gorman has done for them, he deserved better.

But there he was, affable to the end, smiling through what had to be considerable emotional pain. Since he started 30 years ago as the assistant farm and scouting director for the Orioles, baseball has been one continuous up escalator for Gorman. Despite what his new title says, the action Tuesday placed him, for the first time in his career, on the moving stairway down.

Age had nothing to do with it, at least directly. But Gorman, 63, has made so many bad trades and free agent signings in recent years that it began to seem almost comical that the Red Sox could keep firing managers and yet not remove him.

The Red Sox wouldn't have won three divisional titles (1986, '88 and '90) and come within one strike of winning the World Series without Gorman, but neither would they have sunk into such mediocrity these past three seasons, with no end in sight.

Isn't it supposed to be "out with the old, in with the new?" With Gorman in later years, it always seemed to be out with the young, in with the old. It's a good strategy for acquiring paintings, but not so good for acquiring ballplayers. In sports, Old Masters need to do more than hang on a wall.

And some Gorman acquisitions weren't even that. Infielder Jeff Bagwell is a National League All-Star and outfielder Phil Plantier one of its top young sluggers. They were Red Sox with glowing 15-year futures until Gorman dumped them for utterly forgettable

relievers such as Larry Andersen and Jose Melendez.

Gorman spent $35 million of the Red Sox's money to bring free agents Jack Clark, Matt Young and Danny Darwin to Fenway for the 1991 season, this back when $35 million was considered a lot of money. Except for a few dividends paid by Darwin, it was money flushed down the toilet.

The Red Sox team that Gorman has assembled was built in his own image -- old and slow. When your best base runner is a 39-year-old man (Andre Dawson) who has had four knee operations, when you have only one legitimate power hitter (Mo Vaughn), when you are willing to entertain offers for your only proven young starting pitcher (Aaron Sele) it's time to let someone else rebuild the team.

But who? The name of Expos vice president and GM Dan Duquette, a Dalton, Mass., native and lifelong Red Sox fan, is frequently bandied about, but choosing the right man is only part of the problem. It will take more than hiring a good man to make the Red Sox a powerhouse, it will take an unwavering commitment from Red Sox executives Haywood Sullivan and John L. Harrington that the man they hire gets to do things his way. The language in the new general manager's contract won't be nearly as important as Sullivan's and Harrington's pledge to back him 100 percent, regardless of what moves he makes to reshape the team and the organization.

And make no mistake: the organization needs it. New No. 1 draft choice Trot Nixon aside, you'd be hard-pressed to find an everyday player in the rest of the the Red Sox minor league organization that other major league teams covet.

The Red Sox are used to doing things in their own hardheaded way, which means something akin to the feudal system, in which individual fiefdoms are fiercely protected and all oars pulling in the same direction is virtually unheard of. This team needs a benevolent dictator in Gorman's old job, and it needs to quit believing that there is anything worth saving in the old blueprint for success.

Start with manager Butch Hobson. In the wake of the recent fiasco concerning the hiring and firing of Hobson's coaches, it is clear that Harrington and Sullivan have lost faith in him. And despite Gorman's assurances that Hobson's job is safe, who's going to take the GM job if they don't have the authority to ditch Butch? If they hurry, Butch might be able to attend Alabama's spring football practices.

Lou, he'll still be around, spinning yarns, gladhanding, continuing to be the warm, visible presence he has been since he joined the Red Sox almost 10 years ago. They need his humanity. Too bad Lou's no longer as good a wheeler-dealer as he is a person: In an organization that never gave him much help, including Tuesday, he has always been a good soldier. He shouldn't be allowed to fade away